The ASP.NET MVC Framework provides a powerful Model View Controller (MVC) approach to building web applications and provides separation of concerns, control over HTML output, intuitive URLs, and increased testability. We will start by looking at the -what and why of ASP.NET MVC. Then we will explore the various pieces of ASP.NET MVC including routes, controllers, actions, and views. If you are looking to get started with MVC then don’t miss this session.

1. MVC with Kentico 8
Thomas Robbins
Radek Pribyl

2. Introduction to MVC
Thomas Robbins
thomasr@Kentico.com

3. A history lesson..
ASP.NET Web Form
• A set of UI components
(pages, buttons etc.)
plus a stateful object
oriented GUI
programming model
ASP.NET
• A way to host .NET
application in IIS that let’s
you interact with HTTP
requests and responses
.NET
• A multi-language managed
code platform
The Strength of ASP.NET Web Forms
• Making web development feel the
same as Windows Form development
• No need to work with individual HTTP
requests and easier to think in terms
of a stateful UI

4. Some problems with ASP.NET Web Forms
View state weight – Mechanism for maintaining state (view state) results in large
blocks of data between client and server
Page life cycle – Connecting client side events with server side event handler code
is complicated and delicate
False sense of separation – ASP.NET web Forms code behind model provides a
means to take application code out of HTML markup. Unfortunately, this allows for
mix presentation models (manipulating a server side tree)
Limited control over HTML – Server side controls render themselves as HTML but
not always the HTML you want
Low testability – Nobody could have anticipated that automated testing would
become essential
Not all bad – ASP.NET Web Forms provide a quick
results and allows reasonably complex web
applications to be built quickly!

5. What matters most…
Code reusability
• Shortens development
• Code libraries
• Design patterns
• Frameworks
Separation of concerns
• Improves code clarity and organization
• Helps troubleshoot by isolating issues
• Allows for multiple teams to develop
simultaneously

6. What is MVC?
Model represents the data model
• “Manages behavior and data of the
application domain”
View represents the screen shown to
the user
• “Manages the graphical and/or textual
output to the portion of the bitmapped
display that is allocated to the application”
Controller represents interaction
from the user that changes the data
and the view
• “Interprets the mouse and keyboard
inputs from the user, commanding the
model and/or the view to changes as
appropriate”

7. MVC isn’t new!
Presented by Trygve Reenskaug
in 1979
First used in the Smalltalk-80
framework
• Used in making Apple interfaces
(Lisa and Macintosh)

8. MVC Step by Step

9. Getting started with MVC 5

10. The project structure
• App_Data is the physical store for data. This folder
has the same role as it does in ASP.NET web sites that
use Web Form pages
• Content is the recommended location to add static
content files like CSS and images
• Controllers is the recommended location for
controllers. All controllers must end with “Controller”
• Models is provided for classes that represent the
application model. This folder usually contains code
that defines objects and logic for application with the
data store
• Scripts is the recommended location for script files
that support the application. By default this folder
contains ASP.NET Ajax Foundation files and Jquery
• Views is the recommended location for views. These
are ViewPage (.aspx), ViewUserControl (.ascx) and
ViewMaster (.master) in additional to any other files
needed for renderings. The view folder also contains a
folder for each controller.

11. MVC
• Easier to Manage Complexity
• Does not use view state or server
based forms
• Rich Routing Structure
• Support for Test-Driven
Development
• Supports Large Teams Well
WebForms
• Preservers State over HTTP
• Page Controller Pattern
• View state or server based forms
• Works well for small teams
• Development is less complex
Everything has it’s advantages

12. MVC Routes
• A route is an object that parses a requested URL and it
determines the controller and action to which the request is
forwarded
• Routing operates on the directories and the file name of tin the
relative URL
Uses the format
/[Controller]/[ActionName]/[Parameters]

13. What’s the route
Matching a URL request to a route depends on all of the following conditions:
• The route patterns that you have defined or the default route patterns, if any, that are included
in your project type.
• The order in which you added them to the Routes collection.
• Any default values that you have provided for a route.
• Any constraints that you have provided for a route.
• Whether you have defined routing to handle requests that match a physical file.

14. MVC in Kentico 8
Radek Pribyl
(Technical leader - Portal engine, MVC)

15. Installation
Requirements
• .NET Framework 4.5/4.5.1
• Project type – Web application
Configuration
• None
MVC version
• MVC4 included in the Kentico 8 installation

16. Architecture
Kentico as a content platform
• Data stored in documents and custom tables
MVC renders live site
• Controller, Views – custom implementation
• Manual routing management recommended
MVC handler
Request
Live site
(MVC)
ASPX handler
CMS Core
Kentico Admin
(Web forms)
HTML…

17. Web application sructure
CMSApp
• Standard Kentico web application project (Web forms)
CMSApp_AppCode
• Contains all the files which you would place into the ASP.NET folder
Old_App_Code (or App_Code in Web site project)
CMSApp_MVC
• MVC4 web application project
• Standard Kentico module – registered in the Kentico application =>
uses API handlers
• Simplifies development
• All the MVC related files belong here
• NewsController + Views examples – used in the Corporate sample site

18. CMSApp_MVC project
App_Start
• Standard MVC project folder
• RouteConfig.cs
• FilterConfig.cs
CMS_MvcModule
• Connects the project (module) to the Kentico
application
Controllers
• Custom controllers
• Sample controller
Models
• Custom model classes
Views
• Custom views
• Sample views

19. Development tips #1
Architecture
• Kentico as a content platform
• Live site generated by MVC
Controllers
• Try out new DocumentQuery API
• Implement caching
o MVC caching
o Kentico caching
• When using view location that support Kentico export, return full path of views
Models
• Use Kentico API classes (info objects)
• Is using data containers (TreeNode), create a simplified model class => strongly typed views

20. Development tips #2
Views
• View engines – no restrictions
• Razor recommended
Routes
• Route registration
o App_Start/RouteConfig.cs – manual export
o Attribute routing
• Avoid using route placeholders at the start of the route: {controller}/{action}/{id}
• Especially when using together with extension-less
• Otherwise use the following route restrictions (solves most of the future possible conflicts with system URLs)
routes.IgnoreRoute("{*allaspx}", new {allaspx=@".*.aspx(/.*)?"});
routes.IgnoreRoute("{*allashx}", new { allashx = @".*.ashx(/.*)?" });
• To improve performance, exclude the URLs defined by your routes from the Kentico rewriting engine

21. Example
Controller
• Data - DocumentQuery
• No caching
• Location
o Controllers/MvcSampleSite/NewsController.cs
Model
• News document model
• Location
o MvcSampleSite/Model/NewsModel.cs
View
• Strongly typed view
• Using a layout page
• Location
o Views/MvcSampleSite/*
Routes
• Registered news list + news detail routes
o / - news list
o /news/<newsalias> - news detail
• Location
o App_Start/RouteConfig.cs

22. MVC limitations
MVC Views
• No web parts
• No CMS controls
• Document permissions need to be checked manually
Web parts
• No MVC views
Web forms
(web parts)
MVC

23. Export/Import
Export
Site objects
• Controllers/<siteName>/*
• Views/<siteName>/*
• <siteName>/*
Global objects
• Controllers/Global/*
• Views/Global/*
Import
• Manually include files into CMSApp_MVC
• Build CMSApp_MVC

24. MVC upgrade
MVC Upgrade
Remove MVC4 libraries (Lib/MVC/)
NuGet package
• Recommended
• Easier option
• Only latest MVC version
Manual MVC upgrade
• More complicated
• Specific MVC version
Update Kentico MVC library
Update Views/web.config
Rebuild CMSApp_MVC

25. Resources
Kentico MVC
https://docs.kentico.com/x/qYFG
Upgrade MVC
https://docs.kentico.com/x/UgBcAw
API examples
https://docs.kentico.com/x/VABcAw
Document API
https://docs.kentico.com/x/5oAbAg